Table 1. Strains and plasmids used in this study.

Strain or plasmid	Genotype or description	Reference or source
E. coli
DH5α	Cloning strain	Salisbury et al. (1972)
DC10B	Cloning strain	Monk et al. (2012)
S. aureus
RN4220	Restriction-deficient transformation recipient	Lab stocks
8325-4	WT laboratory strain, rsbU −	Lab stocks
SH1000	WT laboratory strain, rsbU +	Horsburgh et al. (2002)
Newman	WT laboratory strain, human clinical isolate	Lab stocks
USA300	USA300-HOU MRSA isolate cured of pUSA300-HOU-MRSA	Kolar et al. (2011)
CNK622	RN4220 pAZ106 : : prsS-lacZ, prsS +	This study
CNK955	8325-4 pAZ106 : : prsS-lacZ, prsS +	This study
CNK661	SH1000 pAZ106 : : prsS-lacZ, prsS +	This study
CNK876	Newman pAZ106 : : prsS-lacZ, prsS +	This study
CNK875	USA300 pAZ106 : : prsS-lacZ, prsS +	This study
NE166	USA300 JE2 prsS : : bursa aurealis, prsS−	NARSA
CNK1460	USA300 HOU prsS : : bursa aurealis, prsS −	This study
CNK1462	RN4220 pMK4 : : prsS, prsS +	This study
CNK1467	USA300 HOU prsS : : bursa aurealis pMK4 : : prsS, prsS +	This study
CNK1872	RN4220 pMK4 : : prsS E215A,E216A	This study
CNK1873	USA300 HOU prsS : : bursa aurealis pMK4 : : prsS E215A,E216A	This study
HKM852	USA300 HOU sigS : : tet, sigS−	This study
HKM779	RN4220 pSC-A : : tet : : sigS-lacZ, sigS +	Burda et al. (2014)
CNK957	USA300 HOU pSC-A : : tet : : sigS-lacZ, sigS +	This study
CNK1870	USA300 HOU prsS : : bursa aurealis sigS : : tet, prsS −, sigS-	This study
NE1203	USA300 JE2 SAUSA300_1495 : : bursa aurealis, SAUSA300_1495−	NARSA
NE1644	USA300 JE2 SAUSA300_1788 : : bursa aurealis, SAUSA300_1788−	NARSA
NE1783	USA300 JE2 SAUSA300_1684 : : bursa aurealis, SAUSA300_1684−	NARSA
NE1942	USA300 JE2 SAUSA300_0014 : : bursa aurealis, SAUSA300_0014−	NARSA
CNK1784	USA300 HOU pSC-A : : tet : : sigS-lacZ, sigS +, SAUSA300_1495 : : bursa aurealis, SAUSA300_1495−	This study
CNK1785	USA300 HOU pSC-A : : tet : : sigS-lacZ, sigS +, SAUSA300_1788 : : bursa aurealis, SAUSA300_1788−	This study
CNK1786	USA300 HOU pSC-A : : tet : : sigS-lacZ, sigS +, SAUSA300_1684 : : bursa aurealis, SAUSA300_1684−	This study
CNK1787	USA300 HOU pSC-A : : tet : : sigS-lacZ, sigS +, SAUSA300_0014 : : bursa aurealis, SAUSA300_0014−	This study
LNS1788	USA300 pAZ106 : : ctpA-lacZ, ctpA +	Carroll et al. (2014)
JAI1287	USA300 HOU rpoE : : bursa aurealis, rpoE −	Weiss et al. (2014)
Plasmid
pAZ106	Promoterless lacZ suicide vector	Kemp et al. (1991)
pMK4	Gram-positive shuttle vector	Sullivan et al. (1984)
pCNK622	pAZ106 containing a 1.1 kb fragment of the prsS promoter	This study
pCNK1461	pMK4 containing a 1.7 kb fragment with the prsS promoter and coding region	This study
pCNK1871	pMK4 containing a 1.7 kb fragment with the prsS promoter and prsS E215A,E216A mutations	This study
pSC-A	TA clone suicide vector	StrataClone